In an opinion piece Monday, attorney Dan Clements criticized the state's management of the health insurance exchange created as part of the Affordable Care Act ("A failure of leadership," Dec. 2). He identified himself as a former chairman of Planned Parenthood of Maryland, which he was until 2004. But his views do not reflect those of the organization, its staff or board of directors.

PPM is deeply committed to and focused on providing high quality health care and education. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, we do not engage in political speech, much less the kind of rhetoric espoused in Mr. Clements' piece.

We are proud partners with the state of Maryland and its leaders to bring health care to the uninsured people in our state. For many years now, we have worked with other public health professionals to address our high unintended pregnancy and teen pregnancy rates, as well as infant mortality and other indicators of healthy families and communities. More than 50,000 PPM patients and students per year benefit from our collaborative partnerships.

One of the great attributes of our organization is a wide diversity of opinions held by those who support our work. We stand behind our supporters' rights to hold any opinions they wish, but we cannot and do not align ourselves with Mr. Clements' criticisms of the work of our leaders to fix the exchange so that all Marylanders can be insured.

Jenny Black and Ferrier Stillman, Baltimore

Ms. Black is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Maryland; Ms. Stillman is the chair of the organization's board.